Stopcock



Apr. 3, 1923.

R. M. MANNING STOPCOCK Filed June la, '192i INVENTCR l plug thereof.

Patented pr. 3, 1923.

ROBERT M. MANNING, OF HEWITT, OKLAHOMA.

STOPCOCK.

Application med iun'e is,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. MANNING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hewitt, in the county of Carter and State of Oklahoma, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stopcocks, of which the following is a specification.

In oil lields there is coupled to either the outlet pipe or nipple associated with said pipe a stop cock which is to regulate the How of the iuid through the pipe. These stop cocks are of the ordinary construction. and when shut off a considerable amount of iuid is retained in the passage through the No means is provided for locking the plug in closed position, and consequently the cock can be easily tampered with, permitting an outflow of the fluid by either irresponsible or malicious persons and a consequent loss of such Huid. In addition to this the fluid through the passage in the plug is liable to freezing in cold weather, the result being that the plug cannot be readily turned and if sufficiently frozen to the body either the plug or the said body is liable to breakage. Y

The object of the present invention is to produce aI means which will elfectively lock the plug of a stop cock from turning and which also provides a drain between the body of the cock and the passage through the plug thereof.

A further object is to produce a means for locking the plug of a stop cock from turning in the body thereof whichl also provides a drain between the body and the Huid passage opening in the plug, and which is of such nature and construction as to permit of the adjustment of the plug in the body to tighten the latter against the wall of the body.

It is a still further object of the invention to produce a means for locking the plug of a stop cock aga-inst turning which will be of an extremely simple construction and which may be employed upon any ordinary class of such plugs without in any manner interfering with the construction thereof.

The drawings illustrate asatisfactory enibodiment of the improvement reduced to practice, and in said drawings:

Figure l is an elevation of a stop cock 1921. Serial No. 478,715.

h-aving its plug locked from turning in accordance with this invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Figure l, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

In a pipe line l there is a stop cock of the ordinary construction. The stop cock includes the usual body 2 having arranged transversely of its passage a conical bore for the reception of the cone-shaped plug 3. The plug has at its outer and widened end the usual rectangular extension for the reception of a wrench or like instrument for turning the plug, and its lower end provided with the usual reduced threaded extension around which is the washer and the adjusting nut. The plug, of course, is provided with the ordinary uid passage 4.

In carrying out my invention I provide the lower wall of the luid passage 4 in the plug with a longitudinal groove 5. This groove is designed to register with the circular openings 6 respectively in the sides of the body transversely with respect to its fluid passage. The openings 6 are, however, only in register with the groove 5 when the plug is turned to close the passage through the body. The openings 6 and the groove 5 are designed to provide an outlet passage for the 'fluid which is usually retained in the fluid passage of the plug in the ordinary construction of cocks. In addition to this, however, the aligning openings and grooves are designed to receive therethrough a locking element which is in the nature of a headed pin 7. The pin 7 has it-s end opposite that provided with the head 8 formed with an elongated slot 9, and through this slot there is passed wires 10 of a seal 11, and thus the removal of the pin is prevented.

It will be noted from the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the drawing, that my improvement is of an extremely simple nature, may be applied to any ordinary construction of stop cock, and will not interfere with the adjustment of the plug in the body of the cock.

The improvement may be employed with efficiency as a draw 0H stop which is connected to the bottom of a tank by means of a short rod called a. nipple. Vater is pumped with oil from some oil Wells into tanks. The oil being lighter goes to the top of the water and the water is drawn off from the bottom of the tank by means of a stop cock. Sometimes water is let flow freely from the stop cock to the ground, and in some places pipes are used to conduct water and bad or waste oil some distance from the tank. Of course, pure oil will not freeze, but the Water, free or with thel Waste oil, is liable to freezing which affects the core and the body of the cock to the eX- tent that the same are liable to breakage,

and many times the core is so a-fli'wted that the same will not properly seat when the weather moderates and the water falls. As a result, many barrels of oil are lost, and such losses will be entirely obviated with my improvement. lVhile l have stated that the improvement may be applied to any ordinary construction of cocks, there are certain ymakes of cocks which may not be found adaptable to the improvement such as those which are not provided with the l'lange in the core or plug and which have no groove therein. So it will be understood that stop cocks embodying the improvement may, in

many instances, be constructed in accordance with the details necessary for the proper operation thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

l. A locking means for preventing the turning of a plug in the body of a stop cock, and likewise for providing an outlet for fluid accumulated in the fluid passage of' said plug, comprising a pin which is passed transversely through the body of the cock and through a notch in the lower Wall of the fluid passage in the plug, and removable means loc-king the pin so positioned.

2. The combination with a stop cock including the plug therefor, said plug having the lower wall of its fiuid passage provided with a longitudinal groove, said body having its sides provided with aligning openings designed to register with the groove when the plug is turned to close the fluid passage through the body, of ay headed pin passing through the openings and groove, said pin having its end opposite its head slotted, and means passing through said slot for preventing the Withdrawal of' the pin.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ROBERT M. MANNING. 

